Article 18 of the Saudi Finance Lease Law

This article creates the body that handles the register of finance lease contracts, and consists of three paragraphs:

First: establishment and tasks. Subject to the Companies Law, one or more joint-stock companies are established under a license from the Authority (the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority under Article 1), with the purpose of registering contracts, and they handle:

• Preparing a special register of contracts, without prejudice to what the Real Estate In-Rem Registration Law provides.
• Registering contracts, including data on the leased assets and the rights relating to them.
• Disclosing contract records to licensed financing bodies, on condition of the lessor's written consent.

Second: ownership. Participation in establishing and owning the registration company is limited to companies licensed to engage in finance leasing. The Authority regulates how its capital may be increased by new licensed companies entering its ownership, and how its profits are distributed, subject to the Companies Law and the Capital Market Law and its regulations.

Third: what the Regulations regulate. The Regulations regulate the procedures for recording in the register and the title document for non-real estate, the other data required for recording, the procedures for amendment and cancellation, third parties' right to view the register, the retention period, the unity of registration data and its exchange and access, and the fee for its services. These details are found not in the Law but in the Regulations.

The register of contracts is defined in Article 1, and Article 19 sets out the effect of registration in proving the lessor's ownership against third parties. The article is also linked to Article 17, which provides that a leased movable remains a movable even if attached to real estate.